Poodle Head Mikey

1998 GC 4.0 w/auto

I did a bunch of 'rebuild' to the front end so I thought a pair of head light assemblies would be the right thing to do to go along with it all

People on here mention Rock Auto fairly often but I can never make their website work. No matter what I type into their Search Function box - all of a sudden: nothing happens. <g>

So I went on Amazon and ordered some headlight assemblies - Dorman brand - not the cheapest but because Dorman has been around for longer than dirt and seems to have a display in every Real auto parts store.

Well; that did not work as the headlight assemblies do not fit. The headlight assemblies 'attach' by snapping the male ball-ends of the adjuster posts into plastic female sockets on the back of the headlight assemblies. Or rather; they are suppose to. <g>

The Dorman headlight assemblies which arrived here have the little female sockets - but they have no 'recess' to grip the ball. They are a simple tapered hole so the ball end of the adjuster just falls right back out as it does not 'snap' in.

I can order more, from the same place, or from a different place, and see if they fit - but I thought I would come here and ask for the guidance of your collective Jeep Wisdom.

So? What headlight assemblies should I order and from whom?


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dave1123

Why would you need to use the search function? On rockauto you just pick from the vertical menu what you want. Headlight assemblies are listed under "body". Unfortunately none of the brands show the back side. Omix-ADA makes a lot of good off-road parts and good quality at that.

I've worked in the plastics industry most of my life, and I have a feeling you got some reject housings from the Amazon seller. Those sockets have to be heat molded after the part was made, and the ones you got skipped that process. I can almost guarantee that's what happened. OR they were stolen off the production line before.

Nick-B

Can you post a photo of the socket area?
I bought a full replacement set (headlights, turns, side markers) off of eBay. Got the cheapest set I could find and they fit perfectly.

Poodle Head Mikey

What do I have to do to post a picture? (OK, never mind; I later found a how-to for this.)

Although I did try to get a picture to send to the vendor and found that I couldn't get the detail close enough.

I'll go try it again now.

BTW: The body shop guys couldn't get the lights in either - so it's not Operator Error I don't think. <g>

The pics are on my iphone. Which has decided to retain all outgoing emails in the out-box; refusing to send the bastards for some unknown reason known only to Mr. Jobs apparently. So what I did just now was to message them to a girl I know - with the request to email them back. Then I can save them somewhere / somehow on this macbook (another arcane PITA) and then hopefully supply them for your viewing pleasure. <g>

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Poodle Head Mikey

OK - just a test-the-system pic -




Wrong tires for this application

Nick-B

Well if the body shop folks couldn't make them work then they must be defective as Dave suggests.

dave1123

To explain this farther, The housing is molded with straight split bosses, IIRC. After the part is cooled sufficiently, a heated ball-end probe is inserted to create the ball socket. This compresses the plastic just enough to leave a "dent" where the adjuster ball end clicks in. Apparently yours missed this step in the process or were removed from the line before this was done. Did they come with bulbs and sockets? If not, the answer is obvious.

Poodle Head Mikey

Thanks.

These sdjuster-ball-receiver sockets are a separate item. The headlight assemblies are made with a cylindrical hole on three of the rear corners. Into each an insert piece slides / snaps in. And it is that insert which contains / is supposed to contain the snap-on socket which retains the ball-end of the adjuster rods.

Just as a tiny point of clarification.

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This supposed-to-have-a-socket part is a separate-and-added-later item.

dave1123

AH HA! I knew there was something fishy going on! My WJ just has plastic sockets molded into the housing, BUT they have long thin bolts that retain the assemblies, one on each headlight. I found mine shake a bit, so I put straps on the header to stabilize them. Actually, now that I think about it, 2 of those sockets are part of the adjusters, but one is just molded plastic. Anyhow, without the bolt, they'd probably fall out on a large bump.

Poodle Head Mikey

The headlight assembly mounts on three of the rear corners.

One adjuster is semi-adjustable - you would have to do it from the engine compartment or remove the header panel for access - it seems that it's factory set and then left as-is. That is the lower inboard corner of the assembly.

The inboard upper corner adjuster is fully adjustable and has a shorter ball-end stalk.

Here is a picture of it:







The lower outboard corner's adjust stalk is the same ball-end - but the stalk is much longer. There is a picture of it:





When all the header panel adjustment parts Fit the headlight assembly is pretty secure.

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The ball end is hidden inside this widget that snaps into a square recess on the inboard upper corner of the headlight assembly.

jon-d

same here, they were the cheapest i could find and fit like a champ. my thoughts were if they turned out to be junk that's OK because i planned on installing some LED lights anyway.

Poodle Head Mikey

It is not obvious to me - why would the presence or absence of the bulbs and sockets make something obvious? And if they do; what is it? <g>

Mine came as a complete assembly including bulbs and the locking ring which secures the bulb in place.

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dave1123

You know what? I'm stating stuff I remember from 8 years ago and comparing them to what my WJ has on it. I guess I should shut up, huh?

Poodle Head Mikey

What is the benefit to LED headlights?

I ask because a few years ago it seemed that HID were said to be the latest & greatest. So I ordered a set and installed them on my 2007 Tacoma. A whole wiring harness to adapt to the factory headlight plugs and some little modules to mount.

I saw no difference in the lighting at night and one failed after a few months. Of course my only option was to replace with a standard bulb. A few more months and the second HID failed. Another standard bulb replaced it and that was that. Although I think I did buy the highest wattage replacements that AutoZone (or where ever it was) had hanging there on display.

I really think that the off-the-shelf replacements provided the best lighting out of the three sets. <g>

So what's the deal with LED's ?

Why are you switching to them?

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dave1123

LEDs are starkly bright white, use little power, and last quite a long time. The major problem with them is unless they are provided with heaters, they don't get hot enough to melt any ice or snow that sticks to them. Also, they don't dim, so you have to have low beam bulbs anyhow. Some LED headlights have many smaller emitters so by turning most of them off, you get low beam. They are still very bright on low beam however.

55 watt halogen used to be the highest wattage that was legal for road use, but since HIDs have hit the scene, who knows what goes. My 76 Datsun B210 came from Japan with 65/55 halogens in it and I'd get stopped and questioned all the time! Now it looks like anything goes. I'm waiting for the cops to crack down on LED light bars!

I have a pair of small yellow halogen fog lights on my WJ and even through they are aimed down, I get flashed all the time!